Sculpted Out Of Clay

THIRD PLACE

WHEN CHRISTOPHER and Michelle Epping moved into their new house in 2001, a rounded brick terrace and a curving swath of lawn anchored it to the lot, which otherwise was a blank slate. The three-quarter-acre site in Newcastle also had sweeping views of Lake Washington, the Olympic Mountains, downtown Seattle and Bellevue.

A gardener's dream, right? Well, not exactly. A developer had scraped the ground bare about five years before, and it was heavily compacted — "mostly baked clay, with glacial till and rock in other areas," Michelle says. And that view? It came from being high on a hilltop, which exposed the garden area to cold and wind in winter, heat and glare in summer.

Today, a perennial-border garden mirrors the bend of lawn. Its many zones include a hydrangea walk, a tropical area, a bronze-colored bed and a winter garden.

The Eppings' achievement earned them third prize in Pacific Northwest Gardens: A Competition for Home Gardeners, including a $500 cash award. (They had entered the contest the previous year and placed among the top 15 for an honorable mention.)

The couple realized early on that planting a windbreak would block their view, so they had to find plants that could tolerate the elements and a scheme that would tie them together. Fortunately, the lot borders a greenbelt, so a backdrop of Douglas fir, salal and huckleberry buffers winter storms from the south.

The solution — a densely planted perennial border — came when they saw Linda Cochran's garden on Bainbridge Island.

But first, they had to tackle that compacted soil. They spread a deep layer of topsoil and compost on the level area they wanted to plant and put in an irrigation system. Next, they had a large arbor installed near the greenbelt. Then they shoveled about 10 tons of rock for paths.

Larger plantings went into the border garden first, including mimosa, catalpa, palm, Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy,' witch hazel for the winter garden and a Parrotica persica for fall splendor. Their favorite tree is a contorted form of honey locust, Robinia 'Twisty Baby.'

Plant pairings are intelligent and intriguing. In one visual slice, Agapanthus 'Storm Cloud,' with its dark-blue flowers, pairs with the showy Canna 'Tropicana,' backed by a fan palm. A path winds past Helleborus 'Gold Bullion' and the dark leaves of cimicifuga against a variegated euphorbia.

The couple also redeemed part of their steep, dry hillside by planting groundcover sedums, Senecio greyii, red-hot poker and rows of lavender for their color and hardiness. Favorites here are an expanding collection of salvias and variegated hebes.

Northwest-style cedar sculptures, carved by Christopher's father, found homes in the perennial garden, as did a large-scale fountain, a water pot with floating glass balls and other low-key sculptural elements.

Although Michelle enjoys experimenting with foliage colors and textures, including unusual plants, she insists this is not really a collector's garden. "I used to sew and paint, so for me it's more about line, form, color and texture." She first selects plants that serve the design, and if they happen to be unusual cultivars, that's a plus. Among the latter is a procumbent acacia that spills attractively over and around one of the cedar sculptures.

Uniqueness has its place, as do combinations attractive by any standard, such as Daphne 'Pink Ice' blooming near blue oat grass.

The couple use clumps of Japanese forest grass, where practical, to tie things together. "But because of the different conditions from place to place, I can't really be consistent with repeats, except for hardy geraniums, blue fescues and sedums," Michelle says. "It's divided by beds after that. I have a lot of hostas back in the shade."

Terraces were installed at each end of the hill a couple of years ago. The couple plan to add a vista garden with a pavilion to take greater advantage of the expansive view.

Judges found the Eppings' garden rich with texture, as well as "wonderful sculptures and carvings with personal meanings." They also thought background colors worked well with foliage choices, as did the mix of commonplace and unusual plants. "Foliage colors trump flowers; very effective," one judge noted.

Michelle has worked as a flight attendant for 15 years, and was in the finance industry before that. She is a self-described city girl. Christopher, who manages real-estate investments, lived with his family on 60 acres in Snohomish until he was 15; he's always appreciated the natural world. He does much of the heavy work in the garden, and together they find pleasure in the doing.

Finally, there is the romance garden, where a statue of Kuan Yin oversees the foliage theme of purple and orange. In one Taoist legend, Kuan Yin is said to have turned hell into a paradise by playing music. That made the flowers grow.

Dean Stahl is a Seattle freelance writer. Mike Siegel is a Seattle Times staff photographer.